Sun 9/25 Save the date

5th Annual ENJAN Gathering at Vassar College

Greetings Fellow Social Justice Friends!

The ENJAN (End the New Jim Crow Action Network) groups in Kingston and Poughkeepsie will be hosting our 5th Annual ENJAN Gathering at Vassar College's Aula at Ely Hall (please see the attached map for parking assistance) on Saturday, September 17th from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Please note that there is a zoom webinar option as well in case you can't attend in person. To attend the webinar please register here https://bit.ly/3KzG0A1 (the link on the flyer is not clickable, but the QR code is scannable).

The theme for this year's event is "No Rollbacks on Justice" and we have so many amazing enlightening speakers lined up as well as other social justice organizations looking to promote their information. If you would like to share information about other organizations you work with, please email Isis Benitez isispascuala@gmail.com or Kevin Carswell at kgcarswell@gmail.com.

Please note that we are encouraging folks to wear a mask, but not requiring it and delicious food and refreshments will be served.

We look forward to having you attend in person or online September 17th.

With Honor and Fight,

-The ENJAN Gathering Committee

September 6, Pack the City Hall Meeting

Members of the Clean Slate campaign along with members of the Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition will be discussing Clean Slate at the City of Poughkeepsie Common Council meeting scheduled for September 6th at 6:30 pm. This is an IN PERSON meeting, so we encourage anyone who is able to attend to show up at the meeting to voice their support for Clean Slate. A flyer for the "Pack City Hall" event is attached along with a general flyer from the Clean Slate NY campaign and some talking points about Clean Slate. Thank you for your support.

The ENJAN Curators

Less Is More Act

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Less Is More Act being signed into law on September 17, we have some exciting implementation updates to share. We learned from the Governor's office that all the retroactive earned time credits have been awarded, ahead of the September 1 deadline in the law. As a result, 12,930 people have been discharged early from community supervision since March 1, reducing the community supervision population across the state by nearly 40 percent!

DOCCS is still behind on awarding the credits people have earned since March 1 (these are separate from the retroactive credits). However, they are expected to be caught up on those by September 1. We are monitoring and working to resolve implementation issues, particularly with the hearing process. If you or a loved one is missing retroactive credits, please reach out to Emily from Unchained at emily@weareunchained.org.

We also recently launched a new page on the #LessIsMoreNY campaign website highlighting success stories from people who have benefited from Less Is More. Here's an excerpt from Rashaan's story: "I can now finally continue to do my work in the community with no barriers, visit my family without the fear of a curfew violation, and travel the world.”

Submit Your Own #LessIsMoreNY Story Here

Black August in Action

First aired August 23, 2022 on WPFW 89.3 FM

In this week's episode is a great one! Black Agenda Report, Executive Editor, Margaret Kimberley puts things into proper perspective about the return of "Trump Derangement Syndrome." We have a moving audio mix featuring the voices from “Black August In Action: Local Organizing for Political Prisoners”, a webinar by the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP). We go in deep with National climate and racial justice advocate, policy expert and BAP member, Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright about greenwashing of the so-called climate provisions of the "Inflation Reduction Act" and Democratic party duplicity against Black and Indigenous communities. The show kicks off with the vision in the voice of brother Mumia Abu Jamal, giving a welcoming back Black Panther Party veteran Charlotte O’Neal. This show includes the song “Freedom Today!” by Jabbir and Derrick of Ex-Offenders United, and Eduardo Galeano’s poem, "The Nobodies" was read by Joseph Green.